River Corridor Plan Highlights Strategies to Improve Water Quality and Flood Resilience in Moretown

With support from a Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Ecosystem Restoration Grant, the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission (CVRPC) and Bear Creek Environmental, LLC recently completed a Stream Geomorphic Assessment and River Corridor Plan for the Mad River, Jones Brook, and their tributaries. Bear Creek Environmental and CVRPC assessed approximately 11 stream miles within Moretown, Berlin, and Duxbury. The River Corridor Plan will help the communities, the CVRPC, and the Friends of the Mad River (FMR) highlight strategies for river corridor protection, water quality improvement, and flood hazard mitigation. This will serve the dual purpose of protecting water quality and supporting the region’s goal of assisting communities with natural resource planning and protection.

The plan also recommends strategies to reduce future flooding impacts in Moretown, including floodplain and river corridor restoration and conservation and stormwater runoff mitigation. The Mad River watershed received widespread flooding from Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, with some of the hardest hit areas in Moretown, where roads washed out and homes flooded. In fact, the floodwaters in Moretown Village rose to the ceiling of many first-floor homes and flooded the Moretown Town Office, destroying nearly all town records. The River Corridor Plan will help the community become more resilient to future floods.

Conditions and recommended strategies for Jones Brook.

The CVRPC and Bear Creek Environmental, in collaboration with FMR, held a public meeting on April 10, 2018 at the Moretown Town Hall to present the findings of the Stream Geomorphic Assessment and the Draft River Corridor Plan. Click on the links below to view a recording of the public meeting along with the final Moretown, Vermont Phase 2 Stream Geomorphic Assessment and River Corridor Plan.